Toy box composing elements for teaching purposes



y 1951 R. BARDELLI V 2,982,031

TOY BOX COMPOSING ELEMENTS FOR TEACHING PURPOSES Filed July 10. 1959 TOYBOX COMPOSING ELEMENTS FOR TEACHING PURPOSES Roberto Bardelli, 71 ViaPoliziano, Rome, Italy Filed July 10, 1959, Ser. No. 826,315 e v Claimspriority, application Italy May 12, 1959 2 Claims. (Cl. 35-73) Thisinvention relates to a toy box which is an addition to the ordinaryteaching equipment of elementary schools and afiords a subsidiary meansto teaching methods which is very efiective, and, at the same time,agreeable to pupils. In its preferred embodiment, the box of theinvention has the appearance of a display glassworlvand containselements by the use of which position;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the box with its cover in araised position and a few composing elements in their respective cases,one of the elements being shown as being removed from the box;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a composing element adapted to be placedin a case of the box of Figs. 1 to 3;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary longitudinal section through the element of Fig.4.

Box 1, preferably made of a transparent, unbreakable and sufficientlyrigid material is provided with a double cover 2 hinged on side walls ofthe box, each leaf of the cover being adapted to cover a half of thebox. When the latter is closed, the free edges of the leaves may beconnected together by any suitable means, or each of the leaves may befixed to the box side walls independently of the other. A grille 3 iscontained in box 1, all the cases of this grille being of equal size andgrille 3 being formed of ribs 5 extending longitudinally of the box andribs 4 extending transversely of the box and crossing ribs 5 at rightangles. Both ribs 4 and 5 extend upwardly from the box bottom, ribs 4being of the same height as the box side walls throughout, and ribs 5being of this height only in a short portion adjacent the crossings withribs 4, but being much lower in their remaining portion, to form a deeprecess 6 for the purpose to be described hereinafter.

A composing element (Figs. 4 and 5) is placed in each case of grille 3,this element being in the form of a flat sheath '7, made of atransparent, unbreakable and sufiiciently rigid material, adapted toexactly but loosely fit in a case of grille 3. Sheath 7 consists of abase 8 which is provided with a rib 9 extending from its inner face atright angles therewith and adjacent its periphery, and of a cover 10engaging rib 9 with its side wall 11 which is formed with a shoulder 12.Two opposed edges of a sheet 13 are clamped between rib 9 and shoulder12, this sheet bearing an alphabet letter, a numeral, a graphicalsymbol, or a figure adapted to impress the knowledge of an alphabetletter or numeral on a pupils mind. Generally, the character or figureprinted on one face of the sheet is difierent from what United StatesPateneO Batented May 2, 1961 2 is printed on the other face. Two opposedsides'of sheath 7 are provided with a notch 14 for finger grasping.

Cover 2 is provided with ribs .15 extending only longitudinally of thebox, ribs extending transversely being not provided. When the box isclosed, the edge of each rib 15 is exactly superposed on the edge of alongitudinal rib 5 in the box on half the length of the latter.

In a pair of diagonally opposed angles of each case, two smallhorizontal plates 16 are fixed, the distance between the upper surfacesof these plates and the upper edges of ribs 4 and 5 equalling thethickness of sheath 7,'so that the composing elements placed in thecases will have their upper surfaces flush with the top of grille 3 andthe side walls of box 1. The small plates 16 are positioned in the fourangles of a crossing, crossings pro:- vided with plates 16 being inalternating relationship With'the crossings unprovided with such plates,both longitudinally and transversely of the box. e

Ribs 15 in cover 2 arein turn. provided with ears 17 which project bypairs from their edges, these ears being flushwith the edges of ribs 15,and so positioned that depth of each recess 6 is greater than thethickness of a sheath 7, a first method may be adopted when one at leastof the two cases of grille 3 which are lengthwise adjacent the casewherefrom the composing element is to' be removed is empty, andcomprises inserting a finger nail in recess 6 which can be reached fromthe adjacent empty case beneath the element and pushing the latterupwardly. A second method which can be adopted in all instances,comprises pushing the element downward near one of its long sides: then,the end of this side of the element in one of the angles of the casethat are unprovided with a plate lacking a support, the element willswing about the plate 16 in the angle where the other end of said sideis located, and the opposed side of the element will rise over the planeof upper surfaces of sheaths 7, thus affording a grasp to the usersfingers.

Now let us suppose that it is desired to teach a pupil to form the word-ROME. The box having been placed on a table or form and fully opened,the pupil will be instructed to take from the box an element Whose sheetbears the letter R on one of its faces and to place this element in oneof the spaces between two ribs 15 in cover 2; then he will be requestedto take an element bearing the letter O and to place this second elementadjacent the previous one; like proceedings will be performed inrespectof letters M and B.

What I claim is:

1. A toy box with composing elements for teaching purposes, comprising:a grille formed of two rows of ribs projecting upwardly from the bottomof the box and crossing each other, one row of ribs extendinglongitudinally of the box and the other row extending transversely ofthe box, the ribs of one row being of the same height as the box sidewalls throughout and the ribs of the other row being of said height onlyin a portion adjacent the crossings with the ribs of the first mentionedrow but being much lower in their remaining portion to form a relativelydeep recess; a support member for a composing element in each of twodiagonally opposed angles of a grille case at such a height over thebottom that the distance of the edge of said ribs from the surface ofsaid a supportwhereon said element will rest equals the thickness ofsaid elements, whereby the upper surfaces of said composing elements areflush with said edges of grille ribs,v and, by inserting a finger nailin one of. said recesses beneath the composing element in an adjacentgrille. case a user can lift said element, or else, by pushing. the

element downward near one of its long sides, the end of this side of theelement in one of the angles of the case that are unprovided with saidsupport means will swing about the support means in the angle where theother end of said side is placed, andthe opposed side of the elementwilllrise over the plane of upper surfaces of said elements; a cover,provided with a row of ribs on its inner face extending onlylongitudinally of the box and arranged in such a way'that the edge ofeach of the ribs in the cover is exactly superposed on the edge of alongitudinal grille rib when the box is closed; ears extending by pairsfrom the sides of said cover ribs flush with the edge of the latter andso positioned that each pair is superposed on a crossing in said grilleunprovided with said support means when the box is closed, whereby acomposing element in a grille case is held firmly in place by the pairof said support means in two diagonally opposed angles of the grillecase and by the cover rib ears References Cited in the file of thispatent UNITED STATES PATENTS 456,708 Preston July 28, 1891 635,182 PerryOct. 17, 1899 204,723 White Nov. 14, 1916 1,839,558 Hutchinson Jan. 5,1932 2,294,465 Lasker Sept. 1, 1942 2,831,572 Messina Apr. 22. 1958FOREIGN PATENTS 749,444 Great Britain -1 May 23, 1956

